Our question today is this:
Does God and Jesus both have bodies of flesh and bones?
Several passages in Mormon canon reveal a lot of confusion over this question. Take a look at a few examples we’ve pulled from their official website –
1829
In 1829 Joseph Smith published the first edition of the Book of Mormon. In the book of Alma it says God is a spirit.
Alma 18:26-28; “And then Ammon said: Believest thou that there is a Great Spirit? 27 And he said, Yea. 28 And Ammon said: This is God. And Ammon said unto him again: Believest thou that this Great Spirit, who is God, created all things which are in heaven and in the earth?”
1830
Joseph Smith begins rewriting the Bible. The following citation from the Church explains when, and how he went about doing this.
Encyclopedia of Mormonism, p. 763; “When he began his work in 1830, Joseph Smith did not have a knowledge of biblical languages. His translation was not done in the usual manner of a scholar, but was a revelatory experience using only an English text. He did not leave a description of the translating process, but it appears that he would read from the KJV and dictate revisions to a scribe.”
When rewriting the Bible some verses obviously wouldn’t match verbatim to the KJV’s original text. An example of this is found in Smith’s rewrite of the gospel of John. Ironically, the Church continues to use the KJV, although they claim it’s been translated incorrectly. Texts for both can be seen in the examples here –
JST John 4:26; “For unto such hath God promised his Spirit. And they who worship him, must worship in spirit and in truth.”
John 4:24; “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
As you can see in the JST version, they’ve ditched the idea God is a spirit even though they continue to utilize, and publish, the KJV.
1831
The following year (January 2, 1831) in Fayette, New York, Smith prophesied that Jesus Christ is invisible –
D&C 38:7; “I am in your midst and ye cannot see me.”
1835
Moving forward four years to 1835, we read in Lectures on Faith that Smith preached, and strongly promoted the traditional Christian view of the Trinity –
Lectures on Faith, Lecture Fifth, 1834-1835: p. 5:1-2; “There are two personages who constitute the great, matchless, governing, and supreme, power over all things…They are the Father and the Son—the Father being a personage of spirit, glory, and power, possessing all perfection and fullness, the Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, a personage of tabernacle…possessing the same mind with the Father, which mind is the Holy Spirit, that bears record of the Father and the Son, and these three are one…and these three constitute the Godhead…”
1843
Eight years later in Ramus, Illinois, on April 2, 1843, Smith prophesied the Father and the Son are two separate beings, each with a body of their own.
D&C 130:22; “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as a man’s; the Son also…”
One of Mormonism’s chief apologists, Bruce R. McConkie, explains that Smith omitted the passage in John 4:24 because it wasn’t ‘translated correctly’. We’re wondering why he didn’t bring up Alma 18:26-28.
If Alma was translated by divine power, why does it read like the KJV, if the KJV isn’t translated correctly?
Mormon Doctrine, p. 115; “God as a Spirit See APOSTASY, CREEDS, GOD. False creeds teach that God is a spirit essence that fills the immensity of space and is everywhere and nowhere in particular present. In a vain attempt to support this doctrine, formulated by councils in the early days of the great apostasy, it is common for apologists to point to the statement in the King James Bible which says, “God is a Spirit.” (John 4:22-24.) The fact is that this passage is mistranslated; instead, the correct statement, quoted in context reads: “The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him. For unto such hath God promised his Spirit. And they who worship him, must worship in spirit and in truth.” (Inspired Version, John 4:25-26.)” – Bruce McConkie
Note: Page numbers for the online version of Mormon Doctrine differ from Gospelink. Gospelink has this reference on p. 318.
Leave a Reply